SALISBURY, Md. -- Making just his third start in singles this season, Christopher Newport senior
Ahun Vodela stepped up in a huge moment on Saturday evening as he secured the clinching point on the road against nationally-ranked Salisbury University (12-4). The 26th-ranked Captains closed the regular season with an 11-8 overall record after defeating the 29th-ranked Sea Gulls, 4-3.
In a matchup against the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference foe, Christopher Newport needed to win four singles matches to come from behind for the win. Salisbury clinched the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3, pulling ahead 1-0. In pairs play, CNU did secure the win at No. 2 where
Edvard Porsmyr Hansen and
Gabe Smith continued their outstanding season as partners. The duo are now a team-leading 14-4 this season while splitting time between No. 2 and 3.
The Captains played singles without usual No. 1
Vincent Truong along with Smith, who had started 16 matches this season. That pressed Vodela into action at No. 6 and the senior stepped up in a big way. Taking on Maas Jacobs with the match knotted up at three points apiece, Vodela finished off the win for CNU with a 6-3, 6-1 win. He improved to 4-0 in singles play during duals over the last two seasons and secured his 14th career singles win.
Prior to the finish, the Captains also picked up key victories at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 to set up the clinching point.
Nesh Kumaresan waged an absolute war against Jhayden Pappas at No. 2 and came out victorious as two of the three sets went to tiebreakers. Kumaresan secured the win over Pappas by a final score of 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7-1). Porsmyr Hansen also went to a tiebreaker in the first set at No. 3 against Gurv Suri, but did not let the early setback deter him as he rallied to win the next two sets for the victory. He won over Suri 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2.
Finally, playing in his final regular season match like Vodela and Porsmyr Hansen,
Ashton Legum closed out the win at No. 4 with a 6-4, 6-3 win. He took down Gianluca Beaujon in the match and gave CNU a chance at victory by knotting the bout up at 3-3.
CNU will now focus on postseason play as Christopher Newport will serve as tournament hosts for the 2025 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Championship next weekend. Match times will be 2:00 p.m. for the semifinals on Saturday, May 3 before the third-place and championship bouts will be played at the same time on Sunday, May 4. Official seedings and matchups will be released by the league on Monday.
